Eversworn: Daughters of Askara, Book 3 (14 page)

“Who are you?” I strained to get a better look at him.

“I am Tobin.” He paused and glanced toward the door where another male blocked the frame. “You met Phineas earlier.” Dread burrowed beneath my skin as my eyes adjusted to the light and his face came into focus. “I owe him thanks for his quick thinking.” Tobin’s gaze slid over me. “You’re seldom unguarded. Only a rarity would garner protection from two halflings.”

Not for the first time, I cursed the reputation I’d cultivated. Of course, when I chose my guise, I knew no Evanti. Their plight was a footnote I capitalized on, but I had underestimated their determination to thrive. By alluding my breed was theirs, I had tempted a desperate people.

“I’m not Evanti.” Disbelief clouded his expression, but I pushed ahead. “I work for Emma, and Lindsay is my charge.” His knowledge of my relationship to both females was easy enough to uncover. Yet in pinpointing them, I feared for them. “Those are their sole connections to me.”

“Perhaps you can explain then why Harper left Dillon with you while Emma was visiting her sister.” He paused and amended, “To clarify, I meant Queen Nesvia, not Princess Madelyn.”

“Dillon was wounded. His leg…” I glanced at Phineas, who appeared too eager for my taste. “His leg wounds were minor. Many of those near the explosion suffered from similar injuries.”

Tobin and Phineas shared a look.

“She’s lying.” Phineas waited for an admission. I gave none. I wouldn’t endanger Dillon any further. “He was limping the last time I saw him, and you’ll notice he didn’t fly after us. He let us go, with his female.” Triumph filled his tone. “His wings must have been injured in the blast.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” Tobin brushed stray hairs from my face. “Is he your mate?”

“No.” The denial was automatic. Too late I realized I might have protested too quickly.

Tobin relaxed visibly. “Good.” His thumb caressed my cheek. “I would regret having to break his will.” He lowered his arm. “Primes have rather singular focus, I’m afraid. Our attempts at convincing them to help repopulate our dwindling race are most often met with aggression. With so few living, they are a rare commodity, and once they mate, they become useless to us.”

“You’re mistaken.” Primes of any breed were lore. Pure bloodlines no longer existed.

“You don’t have to defend him. We know what he is.” His expression shifted. “We assumed it was your arrival at the colony that caused his glamour to fail. It was then we gained proof he was what our sources claimed—an unmated prime. We had hoped since he chose to toil among his brethren rather than hole up in the communes of Daeza that he would be open to persuasion.”

I stared at him, replaying Dillon’s glamour failures twice in as many days. Were both those instances my fault? Emma had made snide remarks about him being a human in disguise. That was how rare glimpses of his natural state were. Was I at fault, or was my arrival merely fortuitous?

Forget Dillon’s anger. I should have examined his neck. Illness would explain his glamour shortages. He’d been gone from Feriana for a hair over a month. If his was a chronic bacterial infection, and I wasn’t nearby monitoring him for signs, then sickness might have set in already.

Zaniah worked in mysterious ways. Perhaps our lives were meant to intersect here and now.

Only if I was here, “Where is Dillon?”

“On his way to us, I imagine.” A smile touched Tobin’s mouth. “You may not be mated, but he won’t abandon you on principle. Primes are territorial. He won’t endure a slight to his honor.”

I hoped I told him the truth when I said, “His honor doesn’t extend to common thieves.”

Tobin’s expression slipped a fraction. “Phineas, what is she talking about?”

Phineas roared with laughter. “That was you? You stole the salt from the colony?”

“Salt?” Tobin perked at the word. “I’d heard the shipment was lost during the storm…”

“That’s what Dillon wants everyone to believe, but I overheard Uriah.” Phineas elaborated with a tight grin, “None was recovered after the storm. Now we know why. She beat them to it.”

“Interesting.” Tobin’s expression warmed by several degrees. “That was ambitious of you.”

In that moment, I piqued his interest. I was sure that was a bad thing.

“Where is the salt?” His appraisal made me regret my outfit yet again. “It’s not on you.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Using me as a lure for Dillon is a mistake.” I basked in Phineas’s dismay. “Dillon wanted me to guide him to my stash, but he forced me to give away its location before we left the colony. He’s on his way there now.” I bluffed my best. “He won’t come for me. If he’s forced to choose, he will pick the colony and its future over my wellbeing.”

“I somehow doubt that. I left the tent seconds before your arrival. I waited outside, actually.” He let me imagine what he’d overheard. “He kissed you.” He smirked. “Among other things.”

Cheeks scalding, I had no trouble believing he had tampered with the tent. No doubt he’d planned a similar theft. He must have circled back while Dillon and I were…otherwise occupied.

“
I
kissed
him
.” As much as it hurt, I told him the truth. “Dillon said it was a mistake.”

“Be that as it may, if Dillon doesn’t come, then I will regret the postponement of our plans for him.” Tobin shushed Phineas with a look. “You, on the other hand, have value and can be put to use.” He shrugged. “If you had the salt, I might have considered letting you purchase your freedom. Our cause…” He appeared to weigh his next words. “We expend large amounts of progesaline. Your gift could have saved us our silver or more thieveries. Oh well, it is what it is.”

His tone belied his hope. His bait was tempting, but his methods of persuasion were nothing compared to Roland’s. I hoped Dillon would write my capture off as a loss and continue toward the oasis. My deadline was approaching fast, and Roland forgave no one’s bungled assignments.

Was this it, then? I embraced failure when the stakes were highest? No. With my goal within reach, I would fight. First I needed a plan. I had to know. “What happens if he doesn’t come?”

Phineas’s teeth flashed in a sharp smile. “I’m no prime, but our offspring would have purer blood than most, which is all that matters. This is for reproduction, not a mating.” He jerked his chin toward my cellmate. “Adina can explain how the program works and answer any questions you have. This is her first contribution to our cause, but she’s familiar enough with the system.”

Horror numbed me until the bite of metal into my wrists revived me. “You’re breeders.”

Tobin didn’t deny it. He smoothed a hand down his shirt as if brushing away my accusation. “The children birthed here aren’t sold or harmed. They live free. They’re placed with adoptive parents, fellow Evanti.” He gestured toward Adina. “This generation will be the first in memory raised free among their own kind. Our race will be enriched, our culture revived by that kinship.”

Adina’s muted voice interrupted him. “Tell her what happens to the females.” She drew her knees to her chest, or she tried to, then she wrapped her wings around her middle and she rocked.

“Even noble causes require sacrifices.” Tobin frowned. “Your daughter will be given a normal childhood. She will play alongside her peers until she reaches maturity. Then she will—”

Her insistent humming ended his speech. Her eyes squeezed closed, her lips pursed, and my heart ached. She reminded me of a child balled tight against her night terrors, willing them gone by ignoring them. Only this nightmare was substantial, and these monsters wouldn’t dissipate. I didn’t need him to finish. I knew what came next. His cause was far worse than Askaran slavers.

These were Evanti impregnating females in a desperate attempt to repopulate a race losing its grip on survival. Freedom would make a difference, in time. One day Evanti would feel safer raising families and their numbers would increase. Would a boom save them from extinction? I hoped so. I admired their tenacity, but their fate rested in Zaniah’s hands. And now, so did mine.

Chapter Nine

Desperation had sliced Dillon free of his glamour miles ago. His wings were taut, the urge to fly a tic in his shoulders. He kept an eye on the straggler whose erratic flight pattern mimicked an injury. Dillon wasn’t buying it. His ass was staying glued to the saddle until he figured out what this guy’s game was. If he rocketed skyward, others could be waiting to launch an attack. If one stray arrow hit his wings the wrong way, he’d be crippled and stranded with a bum leg in the middle of Askara’s largest desert. Considering his wings hadn’t escaped the mine explosion unscathed, the risk was too great. If he and Isabeau needed his wings for a quick exit, he wanted them ready. Diani was his best bet for transportation, even if her legs were no match for flight. He could also use the time to think. Not to mention Harper would shoot him if he abandoned her.

So regardless of how instinct screamed at him to take to the skies, he kept to the ground.

Isabeau needed him at his best. His best wasn’t what it used to be, but it’d have to do.

Doubt whispered getting help was the way to go, but leaving Isabeau alone? Not happening.

Above, the injured male made a slow circle over a steep pile of stones. Dillon squinted, pinpointing the shady entrance before the male reached it. “Is Askara nothing but a damn mine?”

It sure looked like it from where he sat. He and Isabeau hadn’t made it far beyond the colony before they were attacked and she was captured. There were no other mines this close to Feriana. This hideaway had to be yet another forgotten branch of mine connecting to the colony’s tunnels.

While documenting the mine had become a full-time job for some legionaries, Dillon wasn’t one of them. He’d have to play this by ear and hope if the mine was in use, it was also in decent shape. Otherwise he was placing faith in a leg that hadn’t performed well enough to earn it.

A quick scan of the area netted him nothing. If the others were here, they were inside. There weren’t any dunes high enough for a male to hide behind, and clear sky stretched for miles in all directions. Foreboding crept along his spine. This was a trap. No doubt about it. It had to be.

He dismounted and sank to the ankles in powdery sand. Already his leg complained about the distance from here to the mine. Leading Diani behind him, he crossed to the entrance without interference. Things were quiet. That wasn’t good. He was an easy target, so why hadn’t anyone taken aim? Unless they’d led him here with another purpose in mind, which somehow wasn’t as reassuring as he thought it would be. When he reached the loose rock littering the entryway, he guided her to one side and knotted her reins behind her neck in case she had to leave in a hurry.

Dillon glanced over his shoulder, checking to make sure he was still alone.

“Look, Diani, I’m going in there and springing Isabeau.” He scratched beneath her forelock. “I would appreciate it if you were waiting here when I get back.”

Diani’s snort seemed to say
are you talking to me
?

“Just stay put, okay?” He pointed from her to the ground. “Stay.”

Exhaling, he focused on repairing his glamour. Unease rippled across his skin, followed by a shiver as the cool relief of his illusion slid back into place. From a distance his slip wouldn’t matter. It would have been wiser to approach while safe beneath his human façade, but no matter how much he wanted to believe it’d been his choice to be reckless, the bottom line was that was a lie.

He was too wired, too ready for a fight to care. Even now warmth trickled down his spine, too heavy to be sweat. This was thick and sluggish, blood. More developments he couldn’t deny or hide for much longer. Try as he might, he couldn’t suppress this. His change was coming on fast.

Turning on his heel, he crept toward the entrance. No guards stood watch. All was quiet. The sense of being watched made him check over his shoulder, but he was alone except for Diani. His first step into the dark was met with thunderous applause that deafened him to the approach of a lean male wearing a crisp black outfit with his long hair gathered tight at his nape.

He raised his hand, and Dillon’s ears roared with the absence of sound.

“I’m Tobin,” he said, offering Dillon that same hand, “and I’ve got a proposition for you.”

Pulse jumping, I stared hard where I thought I remembered seeing the door, expecting Tobin to enter and another round of explanations to begin. Guilt burdened him. How could it not? What else explained his need to reaffirm he was doing what was right and best for the race as a whole?

“Save your energy.” A cough drew my gaze into the shadows. “You’ll need it.”

“Why are they cheering?” After I’d awakened and been confronted, our captors had settled.

“A new arrival would be my guess.” She didn’t elaborate.

“They can’t have captured another female.” It was impossible to have found another so fast.

“It’s not always a female.” She moaned and chains shifted. “Sometimes it’s a birth or a pregnancy. Sometimes it’s a new male or a victorious raid. The reason doesn’t matter, does it?”

I bit my tongue to keep from pointing out it mattered to me and should matter to her. When I had been here as long as she had, endured what she had, I might become apathetic as well. I wanted to say that would never happen, not to me. I would maintain the empathy for others that had made me embrace my healer calling, but I could be broken as easily as Adina if not more so.